


Misunderstandings White House Style

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-03-13
Updated: 2002-03-13
Packaged: 2019-05-15 12:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14790606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of theWest Wing Fanfiction Central, a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in theannouncement post.





	Misunderstandings White House Style

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Misunderstandings White House Style**

**by:** Christina 

**Category:** Romance, Josh/Donna  & Sam/Ainsley 

**Spoilers:** I have no idea. I’ll say up through what we’ve seen of Season 3 so far just to be safe. 

**Rating:** TEEN

**Author's Note:** 6th in the The Privileges and Problems of Planning Series. 

**Airforce One Morning - Josh’s POV**

We are currently flying back from a three day trip around various parts of the country campaigning for reelection. On the political side, everything went exceptionally well. All of the President’s speeches were phenomenal. Everyone is really getting geared up for this reelection fight. Our polling data keeps improving which only serves to strengthen our will to win. 

On the personal side, these past three days have not been the best. Donna hasn’t been feeling well. It started three mornings ago when I was jolted awake when Donna jumped out of bed, running to the bathroom where she promptly emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. It was the first time I’ve ever seen her sick so it really threw me for a second before I got up and followed her into the bathroom and held her hair back for her. This scenario was repeated yesterday and then again this morning. I have been insisting that she go see a doctor and get some medicine and she has promised to do so as soon as we get back to DC. 

I look over at her and smile. She doesn’t return my smile. In fact, she looks queasy. All of the sudden, she bolts up and heads for the bathroom. I get up and follow her to the bathroom to wait outside for her. 

“Is there a line for the bathrooms or something?” CJ asks as she sneaks up behind me. 

“No. Donna hasn’t been feeling well the past few days. She’s been nauseous a lot,” I explain. 

“What’s wrong?” she asks. 

“I don’t know. She’s throwing up a lot. I made her promise to go see a doctor as soon as we get back,” I say as Donna walks gingerly out of the bathroom. I put my arm around her to steady her as we walk back to out seats. I glance over my shoulder back at CJ who is watching us with a strange look in her eyes. I wonder what that is all about. 

“Are you okay now?” I ask Donna. 

“I hope so,” Donna says in an unsure voice. I really hope she get over this soon. 

**Ainsley’s Apartment - Ainsley’s POV**

The past few days have been the absolute worst! First of all, Sam has been gone which alone is just bad enough but on top of that, I’ve been sick. It all started the morning after he left. I had just woken up and went to the kitchen to make myself some eggs for breakfast. Normally I love the smell of food because it means that I am going to eat soon, but that morning the smell of the eggs did not agree with me at all. I felt the overwhelming urge to throw up and had to sprint to the bathroom in order to prevent that from happening in the kitchen. Sadly, I had skip breakfast, but I felt better later in the day and ate a large lunch to make up for it. The next morning the same thing happened again when I decided to try eggs again so today I decided that I would try something different thinking that it just must be something about the eggs. Unfortunately, while I was lying in bed debating between pancakes and French toast, I all of the sudden felt sick and had to rush to the bathroom again. I can’t seem to win. While I sit on the floor of my bathroom trying to figure out what’s going on, the phone starts ringing. 

“Hello,” I say as I pick it up. 

“Ainsley,” the voice says. 

“Sam, where are you?” I ask. 

“I’m still on airforce one. We’ll be landing at 9:00 so I’ll see you in a couple hours,” he tells me. 

“I can’t wait,” I tell him honestly. 

“I missed you too. Ainsley, you sound a little funny, are you okay?” he asks. 

“I’m fine. I’ve been a tiny bit sick, but I’m better now,” I assure him because I don’t want him to worry. I want to have a good night with him tonight, since he’s been gone for a few days, but if he thinks I’m sick, he’ll insist I rest tonight, and rest is not what I want to do tonight. 

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better. Donna on the other hand doesn’t seem to be getting over whatever it is she has,” he says. 

“What’s wrong with Donna?” I ask. 

“She just threw up, and Josh says she’s been doing that a lot lately. He’s making her go to the doctor before coming in to work this afternoon,” he tells me. 

“Something must be going around I guess,” I say. 

“Probably. I need to go, but I’ll come down to your office and see you as soon as I get back. I love you,” he tells me making me smile and feel much better. 

“I love you too. See you soon,” I say and we hung up. By that time, I already feel much better and am ready to go to work. 

**Ainsley’s Office - Ainsley’s POV**

I’m making some final adjustments on a file that Oliver Babbish told me to look over when my door opens and Sam strides in clumsily hiding a bag behind his back. 

“Sam!” I say as I jump up from my desk to greet him with a hug and kiss. 

“I missed you, and I definitely missed that,” he says when we pull back. “You don’t look sick,” he comments after another kiss. 

“I feel much better now,” I assure him. 

“Good, because I have plans for tonight that involve a lot of kissing and don’t think being sick would be compatible with those plans,” he says but I know that if I really do feel sick he’d have no problem foregoing his pleasure to take care of me. Tonight however, I have the same plans as he does. 

“So, are you coming over tonight?” he asks. 

“Of course. What’s in that bag you’re trying to hide?” I ask as curiosity finally getting the best of me. 

“Presents for you,” he says. Awe, he just earned himself another kiss because that is just so sweet. 

“Okay, if you want your presents you are going to have to stop doing that for a minute,” he teases with a big grin. 

“Kay, so I tried to get you a souvenir from everywhere we went these past three days since you couldn’t come along,” he says. “From Wisconsin, I got you a cheese hat. You’ll never guess what Josh and I got Leo,” he says with childish glee. 

“What?” I ask. 

“A 2 ton block of cheese!! We special ordered if from the most famous cheese place in Wisconsin as soon as we heard we wasn’t going on the trip. We ran it by the President who thought it would be a great joke and gave approval for us to bring it back on Airforce One. Its being brought over from Andrew’s Airforce base now & will be wheeled into the foyer of the West Wing so its there when Leo returns from the Hill. You’ve got to be there in an hour when he comes back!” he says, his eyes lighting up like a child at Christmas. 

I have to laugh at the idea of Josh and Sam looking for a 2 ton block of cheese. Last time I teased Sam about his big block of cheese day assignment, he told Leo that I loved the idea and had begged to be included next time. Thus, to Sam’s great delight, I too now participate in Big Block of Cheese Day. I excitedly agree to meet him in his office in an hour minutes so we can go together to see Leo get his big block of cheese. 

“I brought you Mardi Gras beards from New Orleans, but you know what you have to do to get those so its kind of a present for me too,” he says knowing full well that I am not about to flash him in my office where anyone could walk in. 

“I also got you another opera poster from L.A. to add to your office collection. Its from Madam Butterfly,” he says as he hands me my newest poster. 

“Its beautiful and one of my favorite operas,” I say. 

“And last but not least, I brought you gourmet chocolates from San Francisco. 

“Oooh chocolates,” I exclaim as I reach for the box. 

“Yeah because I know that this is about the time of the month when you crave them,” he says, proud of himself for having remembered that. After another long kiss and thank you from me, Sam reluctantly leaves because he has actual work to do, but says he’ll meet me down here at 6:00 so we can drive to his place together. 

After he leaves, I sit enjoying my chocolates amazed that he thought of my craving while on a Presidential trip, although to be honest, I think he may have my schedule a little messed up because I haven’t felt the usual overwhelming desire for chocolate. He must be off by about a week or so, but just to be sure, I pull out my calendar and start counting the days to see when I am due to get my period because either his calculations are off or my cycle is off, and I’m never off. 

**The Doctor’s Office - Donna’s POV**

Josh has been insisting of the past few days that I go see a doctor. I don’t know what he expected me to do. Its not like we could find time during a packed Presidential trip to run to the doctor and wait to be seen. No, I explained to him that we would just have to wait until we got back to DC. He reluctantly agreed but made me call from the hotel and make an appointment for an hour after Air Force One arrived in DC. 

“Donna Moss, the doctor will see you now,” the nurse says as she leads me back to the room and leaves me alone to wait for the doctor. 

Josh took my recent illness more seriously than I expected and certainly more seriously than I have. Trust me, I have been must sicker than this before. 

“Good Morning Donna,” the Doctor says as he walks into the room. 

“Good Morning Dr. Johnson,” I say. 

“What seems to be the problem?” he asks. 

“I’ve been feeling sick to my stomach the past few days and throwing up a lot,” I explain. 

“Do you get nauseous easy regularly?” he asks as he jots a note down to himself. 

“No, in fact its been a couple years since I’ve thrown up,” I tell him. 

“Interesting. Do you have any other symptoms? Fever? Soar throat?” he asks. 

“Nope,” I say. 

“Donna is there any chance that you could be pregnant?” he asks. I open my mouth to tell him of course not as a reflex, but then I remember that now there is a chance that I could be. 

“I guess there’s a chance. I mean I have a boyfriend, but we’ve been very careful. I’m on the pill,” I say. Pregnant? I can’t be pregnant, right? 

“The pill is only 97% effective. When was your last period?” he asks. 

“I don’t know. My period has never been that regular,” I say. 

“Okay then, I’m going to have to asks you to pee in this cup to see if that might be what the problem is or if its something else,” he explains. After I give him the sample, he tells me to wait in the room because it will only have a few minutes to check. I sit there pondering what would happen if I am pregnant. How would I feel about that? How would Josh feel about that? 

“Donna, I have some news for you,” the Doctor says as he walks back into the room and I ready myself for whatever it is that he’s going to tell me. 

**Ainsley’s Office - Ainsley’s POV**

I open my calendar and flip to look at last month so I can find the little red dot from which to count the days so I know when I’m due to get my period this month. Oddly I can’t find a red dot last month. That’s really strange. I never forget to write it down. I flip to the previous month, spot the red dot, and count off 28 days. There is not red dot where it should be last month. Oh shit! Okay calm down, I probably just forgot to write it. I don’t remember getting it but I’m sure I would have remembered not getting it, right? I’ll count 28 more days and see when I should get it this month. 

Oh my God! Today! I should get it today. Sam was right about my schedule. I sit there for a minute trying to absorb what I’ve just discovered. I should feel crampy today then, but I don’t. I take a deep breath and try to relax because I’m suddenly feeling very nervous. This new information may explain why I’ve been feeling so terrible in the morning lately. What am I going to do? If this is what I think it is, what’s going to happen? We never planed for this. We never even talked about the possibility of it. 

Maybe I should call Sam. No, I’m not going to do that yet. There’s still a chance that I just forgot to write it down last month and that I’ll get my period soon. I don’t want to worry him if I’m wrong. Well, one thing’s for sure, I need to talk to someone and I need to figure out whether I’m pregnant or not soon. 

I’ve been sitting here thinking about it for quit a while when my phone starts ringing. 

“Hello,” I say trying to sound normal but my voice doesn’t cooperate. 

“Ainsley? Your voice sounds different,” Sam says. 

“I, um, must have had something stuck in my throat. I’m fine,” I say getting my voice under control. 

“Okay, well come up here now so you can go to the lobby and wait with me until Leo gets here and sees his cheese,” he says with excitement in his voice. 

“Sure thing. Be right there,” I say trying to sound excited. 

**Doctor’s Office - Donna’s POV**

“Well Donna, it looks like you’re not pregnant,” Dr. Johnson tells me. 

“I’m not?” I ask to confirm. That’s a good thing right? I mean I’m not sure how Josh and I would handle an unplanned pregnancy. 

“Well I can’t give you a one hundred percent assurance that you’re not but, it doesn’t look that way right now. Although if your not very far along there is a chance that it just isn’t showing up on tests yet. Was this something you were trying for?” he asks. 

“No,” I admit. 

“Well then your probably not. No, you’ve got the flu. Its been going around lately. I’m going to write you a prescription. We also found you have a very low level of certain vitamins so I’m going to suggest that you take some vitamins too,” he tells me handing me a slip of paper with a prescription written on it. 

My phone starts ringing as soon as I’m leaving the doctor’s office. 

“Yes Josh,” I say seeing his number on the caller ID. 

“What happened to hello Joshua?” he teases much as I have often done to him. 

“Hello Joshua,” I say. 

“Hello Donnatella. What did the doctor say?” he asks. 

“He says I have the flu and that I need to start taking more vitamins,” I tell him. No need to freak him out by telling him that the doctor ran a pregnancy test. 

“Well then you should be feeling better soon. Anyway, you’ve got to hurry back. Leo’s cheese just got here and everyone’s gathering in the lobby. You can’t miss it,” he says with exuberance. 

I have to laugh because of what Josh and Sam have done. This time they really did bring the funny. They heard that Leo was missing the trip and they both know that today is his 63rd birthday so they set about to get him a gift. Before we left on the trip, Ainsley and Sam were over for dinner and Josh joked that they should get him a big block of cheese. We all started laughing at how silly that was but then Sam and Josh decided it wasn’t silly. While Ainsley and I looked on in amazement that they were actually going to do this, Sam and Josh proceeded to call many cheese places in Wisconsin, since we would be stopping there, in an attempt to buy a 2 ton block of cheese. Ainsley and I had fun talking about how these two are just like kids sometimes. Much to Josh’s dismay, lots of places thought they were joking and hung up on them. Finally a couple days ago, they found someone who took them seriously and was willing to donate the block of cheese to the White House after listening to the story in exchange for a picture of the Senior Staff and President with the cheese to hang in his shop. Leo getting his cheese is something I definitely want to see so I speed up in order to get back to the White House in time to see it. 

I get to the White House lobby and see tons of people there waiting for Leo’s arrival. In the middle of the lobby sits an enormous block of cheese that makes me crack up at the site of it. I head over to where the senior staff, the President, the First Lady, Zoey, and Charlie are standing near the door where Leo will enter. 

“Hey Donna,” Josh says as he greets me with a quick kiss. He doesn’t seem to be worried about getting sick. He slides his arm around my waist while we chat with everyone until Leo returns. 

“Mr. President, Mr. McGerry’s car has just pulled up,” a Secret Service agent that I assume the President told to watch for Leo’s return informs us. 

“Alright everyone, when Leo walk in, I want everyone singing Happy Birthday at the top of their lungs,” the President says. 

“Singing Sir?” Josh says with a groan. 

“Yes Josh, and if you complain I may just assign you a solo,” the President says. 

“No complaints from me Sir,” Josh says quickly. 

“Good,” the President says just before Leo walks into the room. The singing is so loud that I may have a head ache latter but its worth it. Leo looks both shocked and touched as the staff sings to him, but he has yet to notice the cheese as we all stand in front of it blocking his view. 

“Happy Birthday Leo,” the President announces at the end of the song. 

“Thank you everyone,” Leo says with a smile. 

“Now Leo, Josh and Sam have gotten you a very special present that they would like to give you,” the President says causing Leo to regard Josh and Sam with a suspicious look obviously wondering what the idiot boys have in store for him, but given a hundred guesses, I doubt he’d get it. 

“Leo, you’re gonna love it,” Josh says with one of the biggest smiles I ever seen. “Alright everyone, move to the sides of the room,” Josh orders. 

The room parts and Leo is given a perfect view of his block of cheese. Even though he tries not to, he gives in to laughter and I’ve never seen him laugh that hard. 

“You got me cheese,” he says when he regains control of himself. 

“Not just cheese. A two ton block of cheese,” Sam says proudly. 

“We thought you might want this for the total crackpots to eat from on the next Big Block of Cheese Day. Now if only we could find that giant Wheat Thin,” Josh jokes and for once Leo doesn’t reprimand him for his joke. Leo now knows that they don’t hate Big Block of Cheese Day as much as they pretend to. 

Leo moves closer to inspect his cheese and we all follow him. I start to feel queasy as the smell of the cheese gets to me and while Leo is thanking Josh and Sam I feel the now familiar urge to throw up. I run from the room to the nearest bathroom. 

**Josh’s POV**

Donna just ran from the room holding her stomach. I really hope that whatever medicine that doctor gave her takes affect soon because all this throwing up must be awful for her. 

“Josh, what’s wrong with Donna?” the First Lady asks me. 

“She’s been sick lately, throwing up a lot. She went to the doctor today. He said she has the flu and gave her some medicine which I really hope works,” I say. As I am talking we see Ainsley run by just as Donna did a second before also holding her stomach. Sam walks over to us. 

“Ainsley doesn’t feel well. She says her stomach’s been bothering her for the past few days,” Sam explains. 

“Something must be going around I guess. Maybe Ainsley should go to the doctor too,” I suggest while Abby regards both of us with a strange look. 

“What?” I ask her wondering what that look means. 

“Nothing. I was just thinking, but its probably not that. Never mind, its nothing,” Abby says but that strange look stays on her face as she looks in the direction of the bathroom that Ainsley and Donna headed to. 


End file.
